Main Page

Quick Links
    Fixtures
   Reports
   Players
   Transfers
   Rumours
   Table
   Stats
   Reserves
   Academy

The Rest
    Archives
   Club info
   Fanzines
   Last Season
   SJP
   Unlikely Lads
   A-Z Index

Newcastle United Reserves	4 - 0	Blackburn Reserves
Half time:	2 - 0
Score Sheet:
LuaLua (27 pen) Ameobi (40) Coppinger (55) Ameobi (58)
	Teams
Harper Griffin Quinn Cowan Marcelino Kerr LuaLua McClen Ameobi Coppinger Bernard		Ryan Robinson Darren Hockenhull Simon Grayson Neil Danns Gordon Greer Stuart Howson Damien Johnson Jonathan Douglas Egil Ostenstad Jamie Thomas Jimmy Corbett
Substitutes:
Mark Boyd for LuaLua (66) Michael Chopra for Ameobi (76) Ryan McGuffie for Marcelino (86)		Michael Cole for Douglas (62) Alan Morgan for Thomas (62)  Burton O'Brien for Corbett (62)
Subs not used:
Colin McMenamin Jon Brain		Kieron Renton Marc Richards
Bookings:
n/a		Greer (57) innocuous challenge  on Bernard
Referee: Eddie Ilderton
Attendance:  1,030 Regular attendees Roddy Collins (Carlisle boss), Mick Wadsworth (Oldham) and David Moytes (Preston) were in attendance, along with Blackburn Rovers supremo Graham Souness. As well as checking on his own side, he was rumoured to be running the rule over Andy Griffin - he won't have been impressed....

27 mins United took the lead from the penalty spot on 27 minutes when Lomana LuaLua converted after Olivier Bernard was brought down on the edge of the box. Referee Eddie Ilderton, who had denied Bernard an earlier penalty claim, waved away Rovers' protests this time before LuaLua stepped up to score. 1-0 

40 mins Shola Ameobi made it 2-0 five minutes before the break racing onto a through ball before touching it round the keeper and knocking into the unguarded goal. 2-0

Half time: Newcastle Reserves 2 Blackburn 0 

55 mins  Jamie Coppinger made it 3-0 after 55 minutes with a firm shot from just inside the box 3-0 

58 mins Ameobi headed his second, and United's fourth, three minutes later from a Wayne Quinn cross. 4-0

Full time: Newcastle Reserves 4 Blackburn 0 

Tommy Craig commented:

"I thought the two centre-halves did well. It was good for Marcelino to get a game under his belt."

"I thought it was an OK performance but I expected more. We were giving the ball away a lot in the first-half. There was a certain lethargy in our play."

Having endured a 2-4 home defeat in the last home reserve game of 2001, the lads began 2002 in more positive fashion with a convincing scoreline in what was a one-sided game.

Right from the off the Magpies looked more adept on the ball and wiling to work off it, Rovers seeming reluctant to get involved and generally disappointing from front to back.

Playing his first game since the away reserve encounter against Rovers back in August, Marcelino's first involvement was to give away a free kick after six minutes. Thereafter he played reasonably competently, given the paucity of the opposition and was replaced four minutes from time. leaving the field to a generous round of applause.

He was greeted with a handshake from Tommy Craig before he left to get changed, the United coach having studiously ignored some plaintive Spanish glances for the previous quarter of an hour.....

While there's nothing wrong with applauding a player for his efforts, the wider picture is still a depressing one. Despite being on a sizeable wage and having the best of medical attention (who are consistently unable to find anything wrong with him despite numerous scans etc.) two reserve run outs in six months doesn't warrant a cheer from me.

We can only hope that some misguided fool from another club was at Kingston Park and saw something in the Spanish waster that will result in a bid or a move - just getting the bloke out of the club and seeing him play more than once in a blue moon would be a start. 

The frustrating thing is that he's a talented player, once deservedly in the international bracket and tonight showing some deft touches that confirm his pedigree. The plain facts are though that he's a gutless and heartless conman, happy to pick up his wages for nowt. Obviously lacking in professional pride or personal conscience, he's the very worst type of sportsman - one who is content to be rewarded and who can play, but chooses not to. A well remunerated waster. 

Contrast that with a willing trier of limited ability - i'm sure you can come up with a few names from our recent past that fit into that category. Christ knows what the younger players at the club think of him; hopefully they hold him in the contempt he deserves.

Back to the action, and while we failed to play to our full potential, the result was never in doubt once Shola added a second goal just before the interval, leaving the crowd to speculate whether the tally of six achieved against Villa earlier in the season was attainable.

In the event it proved not to be, but at least Steve Harper kept a rare clean sheet and was only rarely tested. Indeed, his major contribution to proceedings was a running commentary on United's play, ranging from frequent "get out, get out" cries to alert his defence to comments about our forward line and their inability to remain onside (cries of "how many times?" and "lazy") echoing round the ground.

Harper almost claimed an assist with one almighty hoof downfield in the first half that Shola knocked on for Copps to try and lob the keeper, only to slightly misjudge the distance and allow Robinson in goal to reach and claim the ball above his head.

Almost inevitably things became less fluid as substitutions were made by Newcastle, with LuaLua the first to go (it was later established that he'd left the ground before the final whistle and was off to Mali for the African Nations Cup.)
However Mark Boyd did display some good touches in midfield, and his passing was as accurate as usual.

Rovers made a triple change and thereafter threatened more in the Newcastle half, but it was all a bit half-hearted and one-dimensional, with no real penetration to speak of, the toon defence standing firm.

A captain's performance from Brian Kerr deservedly won him our vote for man of the match, with David Cowan also impressing in his battle against one-time toon transfer target Egil Ostenstad - Marcelino wasn't trusted to mark him.
 
Biffa 

Reports